Through chemotherapy and the constant fear that the tumor will grow, a family from Saint-Hyacinthe, in Montérégie, whose boy has a serious cancer clings to the hope of a new treatment in order to lead a life more normal.
“We don’t want to be the family with a sick child, we just want to be normal, to do activities, to go on a trip, to the shopping center, to drag Milan with us as we do with our two oldest”, launches Sophie Desmarais, whose youngest son is battling a brain tumor.
Milan, 2 and a half years old, is a regular patient at Sainte-Justine Hospital in Montreal, receiving aggressive chemotherapy there every week.
A new targeted treatment, which is still being studied, could completely change his life if he could have access to it. This would be much less painful for the toddler, who has to deal with significant side effects.
If such a treatment exists, it is in large part thanks to the fundraising campaign for the Grand sapin de Sainte-Justine.
The initiative, which ends today, helps the university hospital center to fund numerous research projects that save and improve children’s lives.
The oncology department has become a second home for little Milan, considering all the time he has spent there since his diagnosis, received at the age of 6 months. By installing her chemotherapy treatment yesterday, her registered nurse, Marie-Hélène, flattered her head covered with small blond hair and marked by a long scar going from one ear to the other, the result of her first surgery undergone there. two years. Doctors had operated on him for 15 hours.
“It was endless,” remembers Milan’s mother.
Her favorite occupational therapist, Annie, also stopped by to say hello weekly during the visit to the Journal. Obviously attached to her little “Mimi”, she can not help but send him a burst of puffed kisses before leaving her room. After whimpering a bit, Milan waves his little hand up and down as a bye-bye.
“It’s like a matante for him, launches M.me Desmarais laughing. Even though he doesn’t speak, Milan is very sociable. “
The effects of cancer on a boy’s development are also numerous. He doesn’t walk and has great difficulty drinking, to name a few.
Neuro-oncologist Sébastien Perreault has been treating little Milan from the start. Very proud of the progress made since his diagnosis, the doctor coaxes the dream of one day receiving a photo of his patient on the school benches.
“I have a lot of hope for him,” he said. I want him to be well and have a good quality of life. “
– With the collaboration of Roxane Trudel
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